


My Space Family

by Chippani



Series: Finding Family in Unexpected Places [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Considered a swap au where Allura was human, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Human Krolia (Voltron), Krolia (Voltron) is bi, More tags later, author is a dumbass, but that seemed like too much divergance, i've already got Krolia and Adam with the group
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22542517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chippani/pseuds/Chippani
Summary: Krolia has waited for this moment for years. Ever since her son and mate left the planet, she knew this day would come. She just didn't want children to be involved.That wasn't her choice to make though. Instead, she would have to protect this makeshift family if they're to survive the war and free the universe from the control of the Galra empire.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Krolia & Shiro (Voltron)
Series: Finding Family in Unexpected Places [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644634
Comments: 15
Kudos: 83





	1. If you want answers, get in.

**Author's Note:**

> First of all: I'm only writting this because I have no self control and have a mighty need for a very niche story type that I'm too lazy to go through the entire Voltron tag for.
> 
> Secondly: I only even got into Voltron because I wanted to make more content for a Voltron pjo au which has so little content that I ran out practically the day I found it.
> 
> Third: .... I wanted a big purple cat Keith. Plus, Krolia could make an interesting human. I haven't seen a lot of those aus yet.
> 
> This is all probably gonna be bad and I'm notoriously bad at starting things without finishing them, so let's see how long I can keep this one up.  
> (I'll stop now.)

Krolia had been watching the night sky for so long that she'd almost given up hope. It seemed like the day would never come. Like the things Dorintus had told her would happen were all lies.

He said that she'd see a ship fall from the skies and that would all lead her to her family. That she'd never be alone again. But now she felt a fool for listening to the alien. He'd filled her head with stories of hope and glory just as he had with his grandson. Voltron wouldn't come to be in her lifetime. She'd never see the lion leave that cave.

These thoughts all passed through her head as she sat on her hovercraft and stared at the stars. Oh how they mocked her.

Then it happened. The bright light in the sky as a ship fell through the atmosphere. One of _their_ ships.

She grabbed her bag of explosives, knowing the garrison would be at the crash in just minutes. They were more prepared this time. She would need the diversion if she ever planned to see what crashed. To see _who_ crashed. In that moment, she dared to let the spark of hope ignite in her belly. _Could it be him? Could he finally be coming home?_

* * *

The person in that medical tent was not who she had hoped to see, but not someone she was disappointed to see. She hadn't even seen that boy since she quit teaching at the garrison. Since he left for a mission over a year ago. _Since he came to her house to tell her the wedding was off._

"Takashi?" Her voice came hesitantly as she stepped over the scientists that had -ahem- _fainted_. Cautiously, she reached out and undid the straps on his legs and arms. The cool metal was a surprise, but nothing she dared dwell on. She felt a warm hand lightly grip her wrist and she looked into his dark, disoriented eyes.

"Krolia...? Wh... What are-" she cupped his cheek for a moment, cutting him off.

"It's okay sweetie. You're home." She helped him to his feet, draping one of his arms over her shoulders. "Let's get you out of here."

"Old lady Kogane?"

Her eyes darted to the boy standing in front of the tent flap. She just barely recognized him from the last time She'd seen him. Granted, he was a child back then, and she a mother grieving the child taken from her. But she'd recognize that brunette anywhere. She'd never forget someone who destroyed her greenhouse and insulted her.

Her eyes narrowed at Lance as he asked his next question. "What are you doing with Shiro?"

She felt her eye twitch. "Well right now it looks like I'm holding him up while a teenager asks stupid questions. Shouldn't you be in the dorms right now?" He had the decency to look sheepish. "Alright. Either help me get him to my hovercraft, or get your ass back to the garrison."

It was no surprise that he hurried over to help her. Two more teens were waiting outside for them, one immediately bugging Shiro about his arm and the other expressing his concerns about the soldiers returning. Looking at the group now, there was a clear count of 5 in there group. As much as it pained her, this was no coincidence.

She would have to kill that old man if she ever saw him again.

* * *

Shiro held up a warm cup of coffee, offering it to Krolia. She stared at him for a moment before taking the cup. Their eyes drifted back to the sunrise. A comfortable silence fell between them. The children were just starting to wake, judging by the sound of forks scraping on plates and the half-asleep grunts in place of conversations, but all was peaceful on the porch.

 _"I missed the sunrise."_ Shiro said softly, as if afraid to break the silence. Krolia smiled at his use of Japanese rather than English. It was the little things sometimes.

 _"I missed having you around. It felt less lonely then."_ Her eyes drifted to him. White, fluffy hair was gently flowing in the breeze, a mark of what had happened to him. She reached over and tried to brush it out of his eyes. _"White is so boring. You should let me dye it for you._ "

He laughed, gently batting her hands away. _"You only say that because you have leftover pink dye."_

_"Maybe so."_

His smile fell as he stared out at the desert. She turned to look, seeing a car approaching. A car she'd hoped wouldn't come. Without a word, she got up and went to her room. Shiro wouldn't want her to scare him off, but...

She took a moment to load her gun, ready to hurt him if he made any wrong move. Something caught her eye that made her pause. Her reflection.

Her eyes were so dark with rage, and the pink scar on her cheek made her look dangerous. _What am I doing?_ She thought. When had she become the crazy woman that lived in the desert? She set the gun down, then headed back out as the car pulled up. "Go inside-"

"Takashi!"

Lance was peeking out of the window as Adam started taking the steps up the porch. Krolia stepped in his way, refusing to move. He shot her a glare as Shiro looked lost. "What were you _thinking?_ Oh, wait, Krolia's involved, which means you weren't."

The loud crack that sounded as Krolia's hand made contact with his cheek was satisfying untill Shiro shook his head at her. "Adam, you don't understand. They would have locked me up somewhere for years trying to figure out what happened to me. We would have lost precious time. There's something... Something _here_... I have to find it... _Voltron..._ "

"Volt-"

"It's finally time?" Krolia gasped softly.

"Time for what?" The three adults turned to look at the teens. They were all peeking out the door, Pidge looking questioningly at them. Krolia hesitated. She knew it was them now, but... They were so young, and this was going to be dangerous. "If you want answers, to know about Voltron and what's coming our way, then you'll have to come with me. But there won't be any turning back. Either your in, or your out."

"Wait- you know something about all of this and you didn't tell the garrison? Why?" Adam questioned.

"You'll understand soon enough if you come with us."

* * *

The cave was just like she remembered. An oasis hidden underground with the lion sitting in a pool of water. Dorintus always said that she liked water, it'd make sense she'd sit in a pool of it for so long. The teens all gaped at the robot, Pidge wondering aloud about the particle barrier.

"Again, you knew about this and you never told the garrison."

She turned to look at Adam. "What do you think would have happened if I did? They would have put Blue away in a bunker somewhere trying to get that barrier open and locked me up for knowing too much.

"I couldn't let that happen. Not when Voltron is needed so much." She looked at the teens, watching Pidge try to explain the barrier to Lance and Hunk. At least Hunk seemed to be following. "So you're saying that's Voltron?"

"No. Only part." She answered Shiro, her eyes not leaving the trio. Lance knocked and the barrier came down, giving them images of Voltron as the Lion opened up for them. She gave Adam one last chance to turn back as they all headed inside. "If you do this, then that means leaving everything behind."

"I... I can't let those kids go out there with just you and Shiro." She nodded and turned, only pausing again at the ramp.

"If you hurt Shiro again..."

"Are you saying this because of what he went through? Or because he's like the son you lost?" If she had an answer, she would have given it. He was just lashing out because he was just as hurt by everything that had happened. Even so, it hurt her more than she'd ever admit.


	2. Maybe don't try to flirt with the alien

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Space.  
> The final frontier...
> 
> So everybody thought. Krolia really didn't feel like explaining they were technically the aliens now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pacing? How do?
> 
> Side note, I need to get a refresher on the first season as a whole, but there's a whole process and I'm lazy.  
> I just barely got to watch all of Kipo.

Crowded was an understatement. The group really didn't fit that well in the cockpit with Lance, but none of them really wanted to leave it. The fact that they were flying was enough to keep everyone but Hunk in there, and Hunk only stayed because he was stuck towards the front of the group.

"Now, take it easy-"

Lance must have been too excited to take things slow as he did a loop-the-loop before flying into the air. Hunk nearly lost his lunch right there, and the helmet that had been sitting on the dash bounced around wildly, hitting Adam's head. "You know what, I think I'd be safer in the cargo hold." He muttered as he stepped out.

"Well, that gives us a little breathing room." Krolia said, trying to keep the mood light. She could just feel how badly Shiro wanted to go with him, but it wouldn't have done any good.

"Whoa! Look at that ship!"

"Definitely not one of ours!"

Shiro tensed. "Galra..." Krolia bit her lip. They'd come for the lion. No wonder they didn't get time to grow up yet. "We need to draw it away from Earth! Think you can do that, Lance?"

"Oh yeah. Piece of cake." Lance smirked as he took a few shots at the large cruiser. Everything immediately went wrong. Fighters started pouring out of their hangers and they opened fire. Lance was having trouble dodging all of it and the lion shook with each hit that connected. "Pretty sure we have their attention!" Pidge shouted.

"Punch it!"

"I. Am. _Trying!_ " he growled as he weaved through the fighters, getting further and further from Earth. Before long theye were shooting past Mars and the cruiser was turning to follow them. They were moving faster than any garrison ship could even dream of moving. 

"That's Kerberos..."

"What?" Pidge leaned closer to the screens. "But it takes our ships weeks to get out this far! How fast are we moving?"

"Uh, guys? What's that?" Lance drew their attention to a swirling vortex surronded by a ring of light. It was right in front of them, waiting. "I think the lion wants to go through there."

"Then go. She knows what she's doing." They looked at Krolia. She could feel their eyes on her, but she didn't look at them. She gave Lance's shoulder a light squeeze. She was nervous too. Probably just as nervous as the others. Even knowing everything she knew, it wasn't enough to prepare her for what was happening.

She felt her stomach drop to her feet as they flew through, coming out on the other side of the tunnel to stars they didn't recognize. Shiro even voiced as much. Krolia was having mixed feelings. She was uneasy and scared for the children. There was also an excitement running deep within her bones. She was _so_ close now...

* * *

The castle was impressive as they walked up to it. Impressive, but dark and empty. It felt unnatural as they passed through the doors. Adam and Shiro took the lead, Krolia following closely behind while the teens brought up the rear. Pidge was so excited that they ran up to Krolia and almost started to pass her before she grabbed their arm.

They all paused as the floor lit up beneath their feet. A voice greeted them over some unseen speakers. Shiro tried to demand answers before Adam stopped him. "It's a computer, Takashi. It can't answer us."

Some lights started coming on, leading the group down a hall. Pidge was excited again babbling about the systems and the tech. Krolia fell back to check on Hunk and Lance. The two had been pretty quiet so far. Hunk was probably not feeling too good after throwing up. As for Lance, she could only guess it had to do with his grandfather.

"Hey, big guy. How are you feeling?" She asked, placing a hand on Hunk's shoulder.

"I'm okay. My stomach kinda hurts, and I guess I'm a little hungry, but-" he stopped mid-sentence as she pulled a granola bar out of her pocket. "I love you."

She chuckled lightly. "You're welcome." He took the bar and opened the package as she looked to Lance. He seemed nervous, but overall he was doing fine. She patted his back as they entered a large room and looked around. There was a center console and two pods. The rest of the room was empty.

"Well, I expected more." Lance muttered, looking unimpressed. Pidge rolled their eyes at him. "Are you kidding? Clearly everything is in storage right now except for these." They moved closer to peek inside before leaping back. "There's someone in there!"

"What?" Lance moved closer to one of them. He peeked in for a moment before it hissed and popped open. They jumped back as the girl inside fell forward into Lance's chest. She looked dazed as she glanced up at his face. "Dorintus...?"

"Uh... No. I don't think so."

"What?" She looked alarmed. "Who are you? Where am I!?"

"I'm Lance, and you're right here, in my arms." He winked. The girl stared at him for a long moment, then "what's wrong with your ears?"

Adam snorted as he sputtered about his ears. "Bad line like that? I'd insult his ears too." Shiro smiled at Adam, clearly wanting to laugh, but he just couldn't do that to Lance. Krolia, however, did laugh. It wasn't a big laugh, but it was there.

"Right. Um, could you tell us what's going on?" Shiro looked at her. The girl paused and moved to the console. As she checked the logs, the other pod hissed open. The man inside jumped out to attack Krolia. It didn't work out the way he wanted as Krolia caught his arm and threw him over her shoulder. He hit the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of him and she planted a foot on his chest.

"OH MY GOD! Are you okay!?" She let go of his arm and dropped to the floor, lifting his head gently. He blinked at her for a moment. "I am now that I've seen you." He winked.

"He's fine." She dropped his head and got back up. "Hey, are you okay?"

They all looked at the girl. She turned to look at the man, who'd yet to get off the floor. "Coran..." She took a shaky breath. "We've been asleep for nearly 10,000 deca-phobes."

Coran got off the floor looking stunned. "What's a deca-phobe?"

"One full rotation around a star." Coran answered absent-mindedly. Pidge's eyes widened. "Wait- you mean years? Like... You were in there... For 10,000 years? How did it keep you alive that long? How does it work? How could it's power supply possibly last 10,000 years?"

"Not now, Pidge." Adam and Shiro jumped in.

Coran moved to the girl's side, gently taking her arm. "Come on, princess. You look like you need to sit down."

"Princess!?"

They looked to the group, seemingly having forgotten they were even there. "Right... Introductions are in order..." The princess straightened her back. "I'm princess Allura of Altea. This is Coran Hieronymus Wimbleton Smythe, my trusted advisor and engineer. Who might you all be?"

"I'm Shiro, that's Pidge, Hunk, Lance, Adam and Krolia." Shiro said, gesturing to each as he said their names. Lance looked sheepish since finding out who she was.

Allura nodded to them. "Yes. It's good to meet you all..."

"How are you guys speaking English?" The two looked confused. "You know. The language we're speaking right now?"

"You mean common?" Allura quirked her brow. Coran looked deep in thought for a moment. "Perhaps the universal translators are on? I'll check in a tick." Allura nodded.

"I must know... How did you get here? Only one of the lions could open the door, but I don't see any of the paladins here."

"Oh, right. Well, we were in the desert and Krolia took us to this cave, and there was this blue lion ship, which was really cool-" Hunk started. The princess cut him off quickly. "Wait- the blue lion? But Dorintus was the paladin. Unless he's... Krolia piloted the blue lion then?"

"No. Lance did." She blinked at him. Lance looked proud of himself for a moment. Allura frowned and he deflated. Krolia glared at her for a moment and pulled Lance to herself. "He did a damn good job too. Especially since there was a warship we had to get past."

He smiled gratefully at her. Allura blinked before swallowing thickly. "A warship?"

"The Galra. They've been trying to track down all the lions." Shiro said with absolute certainty. "I... I think Zarkon wanted them."

"Zarkon? No way. He's dead. Should have died at least 8,000 deca-phobes ago." Coran tried to wave him off. Shiro only shook his head. Zarkon was alive, he knew that all too well. He just couldn't remember why at the moment. It worried them. All of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, Coran constantly flirting with Krolia and her shutting him down? I couldn't resist.


	3. Time to get your lions... Try not to die!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children should not be piloting the magic lion ships.
> 
> Not that that'll stop them. But Adam can't do anything about it. Now he has to help the smolest bean get the green one? Not exactly his idea of a good time. Especially when he has to spend the whole time with his ex-fiance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have parts planned out. Small moments.  
> But if you want to request a specific moment, I'd be glad to figure out how to work it in eventually.
> 
> Originally, I was gonna have my sister help me with this, but I never got around to telljng her I was even writting this.

Adam poked at his slime breakfast. Everyone else had taken to calling it food goo, but he just saw slime when he looked at it. Not even edible slime. The kind that used to be super popular that had people buying supplies in bulk.

No one had died from eating it yet, so there was that. Still, he didn't like the idea of eating it until they could get home. He could end up eating it for the rest of his life, and he really didn't want to think of what it would do to his system.

"Either eat it or give it to somebody else, don't just play with it."

"Whatever you say, _mom_." He rolled his eyes and took a bite. He could feel Krolia's eyes on him. Her spoon was hovering over her plate, the green stuff threatening to ooze over the sides. His eyes drifted up to hers. "What?"

Her eyes were searching his face. "You haven't called me that since before Takashi..." _Oh._

"You know, it's okay if you-"

"No, no!" Krolia reached out to him for a moment. "I- what I mean is... It's nice. Getting called mom... Even if you're not..." A somber smile graced her lips. If Coran had seen it, he would have probably hurt Adam for making her look even remotely sad. The altean's crush was almost pitiful, really. He'd even stayed on the training room floor for an hour- sorry- _varga_ after she'd knocked him down.

"I'm sorry I never met him. Your son..."

"It's alright." She shook her head. "No point dwelling on it. I'll see him again before long." His heart all but stopped. She seemed to realize how that sounded and backtracked a bit. "Oh no, no. Nothing like that! I... It's complicated."

"Part of the reason why you didn't tell the garrison? You said I'd understand soon eno..." She didn't meet his eyes. "His father wasn't human. That's why you didn't-"

She grabbed his hand. Clearly he'd hit the nail on the head, but she didn't seem to want anyone to know. Not yet. Now Adam knew because she slipped up in a moment of weakness. "Your secret is safe with me. Though you really should tell everyone."

She shook her head. "Then everyone would insist we look for him and... I can't do that to the team. We already have two missing people we're trying to track down. I don't want to add onto that list when the chances of finding them are so slim..."

"Them? Your husband too?" She hesitated. Before she could answer, alarms started blaring.

They all got up and ran to the bridge as Allura and Coran started checking the systems. The princess looked frazzled as Coran started his report. "The long-rang sensors are picking up a ship headed this way. I think it might be Galran. Quiznak!"

"They followed us."

"How fast are they moving? When will they get here?" Pidge asked.

"Do we have enough time to evacuate?"

Everyone shouted at Hunk for that one. Sure, they were scared too, but if it was Galra, they couldn't abandon the natives. Not when they could protect them. Let alone, the native Arusians didn't seem to be strong fighters. They still traveled on foot and their weapons would barely leave a dent in a Galra fighter.

"I'd say we have a quintant until they get here." Coran sounded hopeful. "That should give us enough time to get the other three lions and set up the castle defenses."

"Good idea, Coran. I'll start tracking down the lions now." Allura had the ship pull up a star map and started scanning for the lions. "Now... We'll have to determine who will pilot which lion..."

As she spoke, the blue and black lions popped up on Arus with them. "Since Lance is already the blue paladin, that leaves four."

Adam decided to hop in. "So Shiro, Krolia and I can pilot three of them and that just leaves one."

"It doesn't work like that. The lions can only be piloted by certain personalities-"

"Well that's stupid! What if a kid ends up being a paladin?" Adam growled. "I don't care if it's for the fate of the universe, or if the lions somehow protect their pilots. No way am I letting a kid do that. What if they got hurt?"

"That's why each lion is equipped with a healing-"

"You think that makes me feel _better!?_ _"_

 _"Adam_." They went quiet and looked to Shiro. His white tuft of hair was getting in his face, though he didn't seem to notice or care. "We don't get a say in how any of this works. If we did, you'd certainly have a point, but right now we have to work with the princess and defend the castle." Krolia smiled at him weakly. She looked so torn, having accepted this was how it was, but not liking it one bit. He nodded to Allura.

"Right. The black lion, which cannot be accessed until the other lions are here, needs a strong leader to be the head of Voltron. Someone who can keep a cool head in most situations." She shot a glare at Adam for a moment. "Shiro, you've displayed your leadership in the short time you've been here. Especially when helping Coran with upkeep."

The holograms of the black lion and the blue lion flew to their respective paladins. "The green lion was hidden on a jungle planet nearby, close enough to reach in a pod if you take a short jump through a wormhole. It requires an inquisitive person interested in the workings of technology and the universe. Which is why you, Pidge, will be the green paladin." Pidge watched the hologram excited as it flew over to them from the planet it popped up on. "I knew from the moment we met you.

"As for the yellow lion," she turned her attention to a small planet where the lion popped up. "As the left leg of Voltron, they require someone sturdy and strong, with a kind heart and caring nauture." She smiled at Hunk. "You displayed such when you held up those crates of scrap metal when they nearly crushed Coran, even if he did bring it upon himelf." She added as the hologram flew to him.

"I did not!"

"Yes you did." Krolia deadpanned. They all remembered what had happened too. Krolia had been searching some of the crates to see if she could find a piece big enough to make a hoverboard out of when Coran tried showing off. He'd tried to get a crate down for her when the entire stack started to fall over. Hunk had just been passing by and noticed.

"Finally, the red lion. The most temperamental of the lions, who needs a paladin that uses their instincts to fight with a fire in their belly. Someone loyal, who will support their leader even in the toughest of times." The lion appeared, but it didn't seem to have a specific location. "Krolia. You-"

"Where is it?" She interrupted. They all looked at the lion's image, simply hovering before the woman.

"Well... We haven't located it yet, but we will." Krolia looked uneasy.

Adam cleared his throat. "Right. We should probably get those lions then... Not that I approve of the pilots you've chosen." Allura frowned at him.

* * *

Pidge decided they, in fact, got the worst team to travel with. Adam was radiating his frustration with the entire situation, and Shiro looked torn between talking him down and just comforting him. Meanwhile they were having trouble accepting everything.

What if Allura was wrong and they weren't the green paladin? What if the green lion ran out of power before they got there? Or, worse, what if everything went fine up until they needed to form Voltron and they were the one holding the group back? They could never live with themself if that happend.

"Is it bad that looking at that place makes me think of Jumanji?"

"What's Jumanji?"

Adam stared at them for a solid minute before Shiro spoke up. "It's an old movie. It had two sequels and a spin off years ago, but only the spin off had a similar vibe to it. I'm surprised you've never heard of it." They looked at him. "Hey remember that time we decided to skip a lecture and watch it? And you accidentally burned the popcorn because you got distracted?"

"Well it's easy to get distracted when you're watching a movie with your...boyfriend..." Adam trailed off. Shiro paused then looked away. "Yeah..." Pidge hadn't seen anyone go from happy to sad so quickly, besides when they'd finally told Matt about the bullying.

"Right. Well, if we're lucky I have it somewhere in my database and we can all watch it together." They nodded.

* * *

"Miss Krolia?"

"What if she's wrong about me?" Krolia asked softly, staring at the image of the red lion. "I mean, what if I find the lion and it decides I'm not the right person? I trust her, I do, but... I don't _feel_ like I'm the red paladin."

Coran looked surprised at her. She knew it wasn't fair to vent like that, but she just needed to get it out there. "Well...ah... What if you _are_ the red paladin?"

"Then I'll be fighting alongside a group of people that are young enough to be my actual children. That's... Not exactly a comforting thought. Sure, I'd be able to protect them better, but I might also doubt Shiro's judgment... A lot."

Coran looked deep in thought. She sighed softly. "Sorry. I just... There's been a lot on my mind... From my son to the fact that the entire universe is depending on a group of people that are either entirely unqualified or have been through too much already... How am I supposed to deal with all this?" She rested her chin on the table.

Coran gave her a gentle smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You'll figure it out. If anyone can, it's you."

She believed him too.

* * *

The sloth man was almost too much for Adam. He hadn't been handling everything quite as well as he'd lead everyone to believe. Yeah, he knew they were light years away from home, but the only aliens he'd actually seen so far were the Alteans. He hadn't even seen the Arusians himself. And the Alteans could have easily been written off as really good cosplayers, but the sloth. The _sloth_.

Sure, it was giving them a ride to the lion in it's little river boat, but that didn't actually help him. It was a _sloth_.

"What if Allura was wrong? What if I'm not the paladin?" Pidge asked aloud. He and Shiro paused to look at them.

Shiro reached out and touched their shoulder. They didn't even flinch, despide it being his prosthetic. Apparently Adam was the only one who was still unsure about it. "It's gonna be okay, Pidge. You'll see."

"Allura had the right idea with you." Adam piped up. "I mean, you were able to make portable translators for everyone in less than a day, based on technology way more advanced than anything on Earth. That sounds like green lion material based on what little miss princess said."

"You're still not happy that we're all so young, huh?"

"This is a war, Pidge." He stared at the water for a moment. "I'm not happy you're even here. We should have told the garrison..."

Shiro sighed. Then the boat came to a stop and they climbed out. There was an odd hill with stairs near the bottom just ahead of them. There were gnarly vines and dead tree roots all over it. Still, Shiro nudged Pidge forward and they headed up. "Adam... I know this is all pretty bad-"

"You don't say."

"Let me finish. This war was coming to Earth. To our home. It sucks that they're all so young, but we have to do this. If not for everyone else in the universe, then for what we left behind."

Adam looked away. He didn't really have anything to say. Luckily, he was spared an awkward silence by the loud roar of the green lion. Pidge had actually done it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote all of this at practically 4am so... Eh.


	4. The red lion is where?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course the red lion was on Sendak's ship. Life never was very kind to Shiro.  
> At least they had the red paladin.
> 
> ...right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just reading my notes, you can see how confident I am with my writing.
> 
> Anyway, now we get into the part I was the most excited to write.l

Shiro was pretty glad that they didn't have much trouble with the green lion. The only real problem was how upset it made Adam that someone as young as Pidge was the pilot. If they had a choice, he wouldn't have let any of the teens be "paladins" as Allura called them.

Things just worked different in this part of the universe. And, unlike Adam, he could feel just how _alive_ the lions were. Blue had been calm for the most part, happily going along with what Lance wanted until the wormhole had appeared. Now he knew green had an excited energy about them and a curious nature. Especially when it came to the passengers. He could almost feel them proding his mind, trying to find out more about him and his arm. It was disconcerting.

He didn't have to really think about it too much as they walked onto the bridge, Pidge marching ahead confidently. Krolia glanced at them, giving the faintest smile. "Hey. Everything go well with you guys?"

"Didn't doubt for a second. That green lion was so waiting for me." Adam raised a brow at Pidge but decided not to say anything. They were happy, and that was what mattered.

"Did you guys locate the red lion?"

Coran tensed and Krolia glanced at Allura. The princess shifted from foot to foot. "The yellow and blue lions have returned." She said simply, looking towards the entrance.

It took a minute for Lance and Hunk to arrive. The two looked like they'd been through the ringer, and Hunk especially looked a bit dizzy. "I thought that moon was supposed to be abandoned! There were Galra troops crawling all over that place!" Lance whined.

"He threw me out of his lion! Didn't land to let me out, no. He just threw me out like I meant nothing. You realize I could have _died?_ You know how terrifying that is man!?" Hunk snapped back.

Adam shook his head and smacked Lance lightly on the back of his head. "We don't throw people out of our ships before we land."

Lance sputtered for a moment. Pidge held back a laugh and shook their head. Krolia, who would normally have laughed, bit her lip and met the princess' eyes. That stood out to Shiro. Obviously something had happened while they were gone. And it likely had something to do with the red lion.

"Alright, paladins," Coran grabbed everyone's attention, "I have good news and bad news. Good news! We've found the red lion! Bad news... It's on that galra cruiser, and they're almost within communication range..." He scratched his moustache nervously.

"The cruiser you said wouldn't arrive for a quintant?" Lance raised a brow at him. Coran's cheeks turned red and his marks glowed softly. "Well, their ships are... Considerably faster than they were 10,000 deca-phobes ago."

"Oh wow. It's almost like Galra technology has improved over the past _10,000 years._ Who would have thought?" Pidge deadpanned.

His marks glowed slightly brighter for a moment. Krolia shook her head. Every shot Coran ever had with her probably just went out the window. Shiro almost felt bad for the guy. It was hard to feel bad for him though. Everyone knew Krolia wasn't interested in him, and Shiro knew things about her he wished he could forget like everything else from the past year. Things Krolia would kill him for telling anyone.

"We're receiving a transmission!"

They glanced at the princess for a moment before turning their attention to the screen. A face appeared moments later, covered in purple fur with large ears on each side of his head and a glowing yellow eye. Shiro knew that face. He'd been so close to him so many times he could tell you how he smelled (terrible. Like burnt hair and meat that had sat out in the sun for a day). It was enough to make him start shaking.

Krolia straightened her back and stared definitely at the Galra man as Adam gently touched his shoulder. _"I am general Sendak. You will surrender the lions of Voltron to us and we will spare the pathetic rock you're standing on. You have one varga."_ He growled in his heavily accented common before the feed cut off. Silence echoed through the room for several ticks.

"This is bullshit!" Pidge stamped their foot. "I just got that quiznaking lion! No way am I gonna let some giant purple douche bag take it!"

"Watch your fucking language!" Krolia snapped at them. "But I'm with you. No way in hell are we handing over the lions." Shiro couldn't help but agree. The lions were too important for them to just hand over, but they already had the red lion.

"Uh, guys? I don't know if you've noticed, but they've got a warship. We only have a half-functioning castle and four lions-"

"Technically three." Adam jumped in unhelpfully.

"-Three working lions. I mean, we tried, we really did, but I say we pack up and fly out of here in our lions to fight another day." Hunk started going on about his escape plan. Allura cut him off, outright refusing to run. The room fell into chaos.

Shiro's mind, in contrast, was calm. Sendak would only know about lions they were witnessed taking, right? So maybe he thought they only had blue and yellow. He nodded as the plan formed in his head. "Guys!" He called for their attention. "I have a plan. But it's risky, and it puts me and Krolia on that cruiser."

"Sounds like a big fight." A hint of a smirk made it's way across Krolia's features. "Let's hear it."

* * *

In Shiro's defense, this was not part of the plan. He'd planned for Lance and Hunk to pretend they were surrendering while he and Krolia snuck aboard with the help of Pidge and the green lion. He didn't expect them to insist on following them, or to demand that they save the prisoners aboard.

They wasted valuable time just arguing whether it was a good idea until Krolia sent them on their way. She'd find the red lion on her own. He really hoped so, at least. That was all he could do as they headed towards the prison cells. Hope that everything went right.

So, of course everything had to start going wrong. The alarms were blaring, a drone almost got them caught and Pidge was taking their sweet time hacking it.

"There. See? Now he's on our side." They smiled as the drone beeped at them. "I think I'll call you... Rover."

"Pidge, please. If we want to save the prisoners, we have to act fast."

"Right. Sorry. Rover," it beeped. "Can you take us to the prison cells?" It gave an affirmative beep and started leading them down the winding halls, pausing to open the occasional door. It made things much easier that way.

He only had to stop the drone when they were close enough to hear the soldiers talking. His arm provided a translation which was...weird, but he'd take it.

 **"By the druids, where is Yurak?"** one huffed, sounding exhausted.

 **"Goofing off probably."** the other spoke with disinterest, probably distracted with something. Pidge glanced nervously at Shiro, quietly pulling out their bayard. He shook his head at them, willing them to wait just for a moment. He could hear some sentries hurrying past to get to their fighters.

**"He was supposed to relieve us five dobashes ago!"**

**"Ah, leave him be. He's still a kit, and you know how those half-breeds are."** Shiro didn't know how to feel about the way these guards were talking, but he heard the sentries get far enough away and nodded.

Pidge sprung into action, firing theit bayard at one guard. The green blade hit him and sent a shockwave through him. It was enough to knock him out. The other guard blinked in surprise. He only managed to say "what" before a well placed kick took him out as well. Pidge looked very proud of their handy-work.

"We need to hurry. They mentioned someone coming to relieve them and they could be here any second."

"You got it, boss." They turned to Rover. "Think you could get all the prisoners out?" It beeped back, almost saying ' _you dare doubt my skills?_ '

* * *

Krolia was not having nearly as easy a time as Shiro and Pidge were having. She almost ran into three patrols before she found the lion. And when she did finanly find it, she'd frozen at the door.

Someone in dark clothes was standing right in front of the lion with a hand outstretched. He had a hood pulled on and a belt with two daggers resting on his hips. He was just turning around as she came to the open door, and she could see his face was completely covered in a mask.

They stared at each other for a beat before he stepped out of her path and made his way to the nearby console. _"Get in your lion. I will open the doors for you."_ He urged her.

Clearly he was not working for the empire, but she was still uneasy. Perhaps it was the mask.

 _"Paladin?"_ She shook her head and started towards the lion. He watched her go up to the barrier before turning back to the console. It made it easier to reach out and touch it without eyes on her.

Nothing happened.

"Hello? Red lion? Come on. I'm your paladin, aren't I? I'm here to get you out." It continued to do nothing. "You're not safe here and we need you! Come on!" She punched the barrier out of frustration. Feeling eyes on her, she turned to look at the figure. "What?"

 _"Nothing."_ He raised his hands and turned back to the console. His body went rigid after a moment and he stared towards the door. The alarms started blaring loudly. So loudly she almost didn't hear what he said next. _"Get your lion. Now."_ He ordered as he jumped over the console and hurried to the door, pressing himself to the wall beside it and pulling out one of his daggers. She turned back to the lion.

"Please. We have to get out of here! The others are in a lot of trouble, they might die!" The lion ignored her.

The sounds of laser fire and metal on metal drew her attention. She didn't want to look, she was hoping the lion would hear her urgency and open up. Instead a searing white pain hit her arm and she cradled it as she turned to look.

Sentries had spilled into the room with lasers drawn. Every time one tried to turn it's attention to her, the stranger would run them through with his sword. _Wait, sword?_

He drew his other dagger and made himself a bigger target. She frowned and drew her bayard, activating it. She didn't want to use it, preferring long range weapons, but so far it had only taken the shape of a blade and she couldn't let him fight on his own. The first sentry to meet her blade lost his head. The second tried to block her attack, only to get his arm sliced off.

Honestly, she thought it was going well until she noticed the blood on the floor. She tried not to think about it, but couldn't help but steal a glance at her new ally. One of the sentries knocked the dagger out of his hand and lost it's head. Another plucked it from the ground and plunged it deep into his thigh. He let out a guttural scream, full of pain and rage as he swung and stabbed all of the bots near him, slowly limping back to the console.

She turned her attention back to the fight, hacking and thrusting. There were just too many of them.

"GRAB ON TO SOMETHING!" Her ally shouted and she listened, plunging her own blade into the floor. Doors she hadn't seen beneath their feet opened up into the vacuum of space. The bots were torn out and she struggled to hold on to her bayard. Then it came loose and she felt herself being pulled out into space.

The guy leapt after her, catching her bayard and tried to grab something to stop them from getting pulled out. Instead he got a crate to the face and they both flew out into the emptiness. Krolia herself was fine for the most part. There was a small hole in the arm of her suit which was easy for her to cover up and keep pressure on. It was her new friend that she was worried about. His glove was cut where he'd caught her bayard, there was a gash in his side where he'd been shot at some point and the dagger was still sticking out of his leg.

It probably would have gotten dangerous, if she didn't see it. See _her._ The red lion flew out of the cruiser to catch them. It got them in the cargo hold before it repressurized and let them fall to the ground.

Her bayard deactivated and she listened to her friend. He was breathing heavily and probably in a lot of pain. Still, they both sat up slowly to look around, him grunting initially. The hold itself was like blue's only smaller and with red tinged lighting. The healing pod was open and waiting, for him? He didn't go in it though. She watched him get to his feet and limp to the cockpit.

He shouldn't have been able to pilot the lion. It should have responded to her. Allura had assured her of that. Coran had said that it would. But he sat in the pilot's chair and the controls responded to him. He tested them for a moment, then pulled up a private communication channel, speaking in... Galran.

"You..." She wasn't surprised, not really. It was fairly obvious considering he met her on the battle cruiser. He turned to look at her. "You're hurt."

_"I've noticed."_

"I just... Are you good to fly?" She didn't want him to pass out.

 _"I was born to fly. Don't worry."_ She could hear the smile in his voice. Somehow, she felt he was right. The channel for the paladins crackled to life.

"Krolia? Krolia, come in!" Shiro's voice came. "Did you get the lion?" Pidge was shouting at him to back off in the background. Her new friend turned to her.

"Yeah. I got it. Tell Hunk and Lance to fall back to the castle. Give Pidge some space and let's get your lion." She hesitated. "And I think Adam and the others should meet us in the black lion's hanger.... There's... Well, things didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped."

She ignored their shouting, reaching out and muting their mics before looking to her buddy. He was taking down any fighters that got in their way and trying to clear a path for the others. Probably because he wanted to make himself more trustworthy. It's not like he knew how they'd react to seeing he was...

"What's your name?" She asked.

He hesitated. He already knew her name, so it was only fair she knew his, right? _"Yurak."_ He finally mumbled. _"Everyone calls me Yurak."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should explain: the modern common is gonna be italicized until they update their language library. Galran, which is bolded, isn't even in their language library because a young Allura accidentally deleted it years ago and no one noticed.
> 
> Though even if she hadn't, it wouldn't be accurate at all anymore. They've had 10,000 years, give or take.


	5. Forming Voltron is harder than it sounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance freaks out for a moment, Blue is giving him pointers, Pidge is asking way too many questions about Galra tech, Hunk wants to go home and Yurak could care less that he's bleeding out.  
> Shiro? Well, he's the only one that isn't running around like a headless chicken. Then again, He just wants his lion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That first episode of Voltron is kinda long, so I commend anyone who's able to write it all out in a single chapter.  
> Side note: Lance still thinks Pidge is a dude so for his pov they'll be referred to with male pronouns for now. Maybe Hunk and Allura would be the same? But Idk if I would even do their povs. We'll see.
> 
> Also, I'm really liking that these chapters have been over 1k words because that's my personal minimum for word counts.

Lance was terrified. The fight itself hadn't been so bad, but a part ov him knew they were just lucky Krolia came out guns blazing when she did. (Or would it be lasers firing? He really didn't know at this point.) The part that really scared him though, Krolia had asked for Adam and Coran to meet them in the black lion's hanger.

He may not have known her well, only knowing her from a few visits to his grandfather years ago, but it sounded like she got hurt. She wouldn't be on top of her game if she was hurt. Let alone, they didn't know how badly she was hurt. She could be bleeding out and they wouldn't know until they met up. It was killing him that he couldn't be sure. He knew it was bugging Shiro too. He could practically feel it.

 _But he hasn't connected to his lion yet, how could you feel_ _it?_

That was another thing he'd have to get used to. Maybe it was because of his grandfather, or that he'd had his lion the longest, but he could hear her in his head. He had for a while, he supposed, it was just easier not to think about.

 _I'll explain later,_ he thought as he tried to reach Krolia again. "Talk to us space mom, we have to know you're okay or Shiro's gonna chew through Pidge's seat."

"I will not!"

"I'll explain when we get to the castle." She answered with an annoyed huff. But something wasn't right.

He concentrated on his connections. The refreshing rush of water from Blue was the easiest part for him to reach. He could reach for Hunk and Yellow if he wanted, the steady earthen feeling ready to ground him contrasting with Hunk's nervousness and fear. Pidge wasn't too far, lively and energetic, but he was a storm of emotions as far as Lance could feel. The one he wanted to reach was Red.

A burning flame to light their way. It was a relief to feel, but that didn't last long. The fire burned hot and angry, but the paladin... There was also nervousness and pain coming from them. Their connection to Red was almostas close as his and Blue's (not that that upset him, because it didn't matter and he trusted Krolia) but it was unstable. Like neither paladin or lion was sure about the other yet.

"Krolia! Are you hurt!? You shouldn't be flying if you're hurt!" He blurted.

"What?! She's hurt?" Hunk's worried tone crackled through the coms. Pidge didn't seem to have his priorities nearly as straight. "Wait, how can you tell? It's not like we can see each other, and Krolia hasn't said that she is."

"W- ah- you see- um..." Lance wasn't sure how to explain it. Blue had only taught him how to reach out like that the day before, and he still relied heavily on her help to do it. Krolia saved him from answering.

"I said I'd explain at the castle." She shut down the conversation.

The lions guided them into landing, letting each paladin run out to check on their "space mom" sooner. Blue even told Lance to wait by the door before she landed. It was kind, but he almost fell over several times. Still, he was the first out of his lion, despite Red and Green landing before him. He and Coran were booking it towards the red lion. The lion itself was still lowering it's head to let Krolia out. Slow and smooth, as though it were trying not to cause further harm.

The idea didn't comfort him, and Blue was just purring in his head, trying to calm him.

Adam, Coran and Shiro passed him, reaching the lion before everyone else. Hunk and Pidge chose to stick by Lance's side as best they could, so he slowed down for them. Glancing back, he could see Allura making her way over as well. She wasn't rushing nearly as much, but she wasn't taking her time.

The lion finally opened up for the paladin and they all froze.

Sure, Krolia was walking down the ramp to them, but the person at her side was what caught their attention. His arm was draped over her shoulders, his other hand was helping her put pressure on his side and he limped along with some kind of knife stucking out of his leg. There was blood dripping from his fingertips onto her armor.

Adam and Coran only hesitated for a moment longer before rushing forward to help. The guy seemed surprised to see Coran. Lance assumed, at least. It was hard to say with the limited amount of body language he gave. The mask didn't help either.

 _"Altean?_ " The word came out so clearly. Coran didn't seem phased by it but Lance felt himself pause. What was so confusing about seeing an Altean?

"Come sit down. We need to take care of all this before you bleed out." Adam turned to Krolia. "Why didn't you put him in the pod? You could have-"

"He was piloting the lion."

Stunned silence followed her reply. Krolia wasn't the red paladin, but this guy that they'd never met was. And he'd flown while injured.

Lance watched Adam guid him to sit while Coran started cleaning up the cut on his hand with disinfectant foam. He swayed a bit before shaking his head. _"We need to get the black lion and get back out there. They won't be down for long."_ He said slowly

"You're not going anywhere. Not with a cut this bad." Adam pulled out the dagger, receiving a soft hiss. Coran paused. "How have you not passed out?"

Lance was wondering the same thing, but the guy didn't answer, opting instead to snatch the dagger and put it in his empty sheath. Adam rolled his eyes. Shiro frowned deeply. "Unfortunately, he's right. They'll be back in working order soon, and we can't stop them without Voltron." He glanced at Allura. "Would someone else be able to pilot the red lion while he's getting treatment?"

She shook her head. _Red doesn't want a different pilot. She sees potential in him._ Blue explained.

 _Honestly? I can see why._ Lance thought. _This guy is so close to passing out, and he was still able to navigate through a battle. Unless most of that was her...?_

_No, that was him._

He tried not to openly pout at that. Lance prided himself on being the second best pilot in the group, considering he was one of the two (as far as he knew) that had been formally trained in flying a fighter. Instead he turned his attention to Hunk. The big guy would no doubt be a bit queasy seeing Adam starting to stitch up the leg wound. "How you feeling, man?"

"Uh... I'm feeling a lot of things right now. Let me get back to you on that." He mumbled.

Allura got the rest of the group's attention, wanting to get the black lion. Shiro formulated a plan for how they would deal with the ship flying somewhere above them until they could get the red lion to join in. It all sounded easy enough, so they all took off, leaving the red paladin in Adam and Coran's capable hands.

* * *

The battle did not go well. They could only do so much with just four lions, and Blue was confusing him with instructions on how to do certain things, which was distracting.

Even when the red lion finally did show up to battle it didn't get any better. Sure, the guy knew weirdly specific things about galra battle strategies and formations, but his information didn't help them when they didn't understand what he meant and he'd yell over the coms in frustration. It was so much more hectic, and they couldn't even tell him to shut up without a cycle of "I wasn't talking to you" because they didn't know his name. (Lance hoped he'd tell them at some point, but he didn't. Rude. The guy probably slept in that weird mask of his.)

Still, they were supposed to be fighting as a team. Hunk was panicking, Pidge was trying to think up how to form Voltron. (Which Blue was _not_ explaining very well.) Their new friend was taking down as many fighters as he could. And Shiro? Well... He was moatly trying to keep the group from falling apart.

"Okay! I uave an idea!" Hunk shouted. "Form Voltron!" His lion slammed into Pidge's. The smaller of the two started shouting.

Shiro groaned in frustration. "Let's try flying in formation!"

_That's not how it-_

_"It's the best plan anyone else has come up with. It's worth a try."_ The red paladin chimed in and fell into formation with everyone. Lance got the feeling he didn't think it was gonna work either.

It really didn't either. They flew in formation for only a moment when Sendak's tractor beam started pulling them towards the ship. Lance desperately tried to pilot out of it, not wanting to give up yet. "No! No! This can't be it!"

"I can't pull free!" Pidge growled softly. Hunk had taken to whimpering softly about not wanting to die. Lance almost expected their newest member to call him a wimp, but he didn't.

_"If we don't get out of this, does anyone know how to activate their self destruct? That way we can at least protect the planet."_

Shiro was quiet as Pidge started to explain the possibility of not having a self destruct feature, and Lance tried to comfort Hunk. (He wasn't doing a very good job, but at least he was trying.) "We're not giving up." He finally said, everyone falling silent. "We've come too far and worked too hard. The people on that planet need us. The people we left behind on Earth and everyone else in the universe need _us_. We're not dying here! We're here to take down the galra, and all of that starts _here_ and _now!_ Are you with me!?"

Lance could feel everyone's wavelengths aligning. Their fear ebbing away, their rage finding new direction. Lance himself felt like he would survive the fight, if on spite alone. Pidge and their new friend too. The guy could probably crumble an empire on spite alone.

Then it happened. They broke free of the beam and came together.

They formed Voltron. They cheered only for a moment before they moved as one to take down the ship. Blue spoke to Lance again with a soothing purr, _you can relax. We've got this._

He believed her.

* * *

Allura was waiting for them as they left their lions. Lance was glad to see she was alright. He knew better than to try to flirt with her now, but he did feel genuinely happy to see that she was okay. Krolia and Adam were by her sides while Coran eyed the red lion suspiciously.

Now that he thought about it, the red paladin was still hesitantly standing at the top of the ramp to his lion.

"You all did splendid! You've managed to form Voltron for the first time!" The princess smiled as he finally started to limp their way.

"Wait- wait, wait. Time out! First time? Meaning that we'll have to do that again?" Hunk frowned.

 _"You can't really expect the universe to be saved after beating a single battleship."_ They could practically feel an eyebrow raised under the red paladin's mask. _"We're talking about taking out an entire galactic empire. There are going to be thousands more ships just like that one. Sendak's was just the biggest."_

 _Way to kill the mood._ Lance couldn't agree with Blue more.

"And each time we'll get better at it." Shiro said encouragingly.

_"Was that not implied?"_

"Not really dude. Also, how the hell are we supposed to tell what exactly you mean when we can't see your face?" Pidge raised a brow. The guy seemed nervous all of a sudden, his whole body more rigid than before.

"Oh, right." Allura turned to him. "None of this would have been possible with out you. Thank you... Er... I'm sorry. I never caught your name."

That didn't seem to put him at ease in the slightest. Coran moved closer, squinting slightly under his furrowed brow. Lance opened his mouth to question the old man.

 _"Everyone calls me Yurak."_ Allura froze. Yurak, as he called himself, was shaking slightly. So slightly that Lance almost missed it. "That's a _galra_ name..."

Lance felt his blood run cold. Their new pal had a galra name. That probably didn't mean anything. Right...?

"Remove your mask."

No one moved for another beat, then Yurak reached up and slipped his hood off. His ears immediately drew their attention, large and cat-like on each side of his head with soft tufts of fur on the end. Everything else became just as attention grabbing as the mask dissolved. His deep eggplant hair, violet irises surrounded by yellow sclera. All of his skin was covered in a layer of lilac colored fur, plum stripes on his cheeks and ears. His eyes were trained on the ground as everyone stared at him.

Only one thought rang through Lance's head. No helpful commentary from Blue to drown it out either.

_The red paladin is a galra._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'll do some background stories for this while I take a break. Turns out my motivation dies around 6 chapters a lot.
> 
> I do have a lot of ideas for this one tho.
> 
> [Before I forget! A painting I made of "Yurak" ~~because we all knew he's Keith~~](https://thecatsart.tumblr.com/post/190890224329/me-i-wont-get-attatched-to-this-show-because-i)


	6. It's not really okay to imprison your paladin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro and the others work on convincing Allura to let Yurak roam free. Everyone except Coran... And Yurak. In fact, he sides with the princess, much to Krolia's dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to work on this one now, oddly enough.
> 
> Note: this chapter switches to Keith's pov, and I've decided to have English italicized because he speaks mostly in common. Hope that makes sense.

Shiro was shaking. He didn't even realize it for a moment, all he could think about were the memories filling his head. Memories of the galra standing before him.

_Those violet eyes meeting his. Him begging for help, for someone to end the fight. Those same eyes turning away. The cold indifference on his face as he guarded his cell. The night he'd slipped him something to ease his pain._

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET HIM GO!" He snapped back to look at Krolia. She pulled at Coran's arm, trying to make him let go of the cuffs that had been placed around Yurak's wrists.

Shiro's eyes trailed up the galra's arms and to his drooped ears. His eyes were still locked on the ground, but looking a million light years away. He blinked slowly and their eyes met, like they had months ago. This time, they widened before his ears folded back and he turned away again. _He_ knew _. He remembered._

Shiro tried to speak, but no sound came. His tongue felt heavy and his throat felt tight. He was still shaking. His left hand drifted up to grip his right shoulder. _Why did it hurt so much?_

"You can't do this Allura! He saved our asses!"

"He's a galra soldier!" The princess shouted back. Krolia looked ready to drop her. Pidge grabbed Coran's other arm. "Wait a second! You can't just see that he's a galra and throw him into a prison cell!"

"His people slaughtered ours. I'm sorry paladins, but we just can't trust him not to finish the job."

"But you guys realize how wrong this is, right? Why would he save your lives, protect this planet or even be able to form Voltron with us if he wants to kill you?" Hunk questioned. "I mean, doesn't that seem at least a little bit off to you?"

Shiro tried again. _Why can't I stop shaking?_ "You don't know how the galra think. If you'd seen what they're capable of you'd agree with me. Correct, Shiro?" Allura turned to him, her eyes set with determination and fury. All of that flashed away in an instant. "Shiro?"

"Takashi..." Krolia looked at him apologetically. Adam moved to his side and gently started to steer him away from the group. _But I have to help him!_

 _Why?_ A small voice in the back of his head asked. _He didn't help you. He turned away, just like all the other galra. He'll turn his back on the team eventually. It's only a matter of time. He's already shown he's capable of it._

"Princess, he might not be like other galra. I understand-"

"No you don't!" Lance took a few steps away from the princess. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't. 

_"Would all of you just stop?"_ They all went silent and looked at Yurak. _"You don't have to stand up for me. I can do that myself."_

"But you're not..." Adam mumbled. Yurak didn't respond. He simply nodded to Coran and started walking. Allura followed after the two. The group watched the trio disappear into the castle silently. The atmosphere felt impossibly heavy.

"Does anybody else feel sick right now? Because that made me feel pretty sick."

"I can't believe them! Sure he's galra, but didn't he just help us destroy a whole battle cruiser?" Pidge was angry. They looked ready to throw something. Lance looked at them for a moment, almost saying something, but he turned away.

Krolia turned and stormed out of the hanger without a word. Shiro saw the tears in her eyes as she passed him. He wanted to call out to her, to see if she was alright, but his voice still refused to work.

"Come on, Takashi. You need some air." Adam said, trying to lead him away. Surprisingly, he let him.

* * *

Keith was surprised to see someone deciding to visit him already. Barely a quintant had passed, and the altean's had only just given him some nutrition paste (which he was afraid to eat since it was _green_ but that wasn't important) yet one of the humans came to see him.

Even without her helmet, he recognized her. Maybe ut was the scar on her cheek. Or it could have been her build. Or just that she was the only woman. (The small one definitely wasn't male, but he doubted they identified as female.) Her dark brows were furrowed, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Her eyes bore into his as he waited for her to speak. She didn't. He sighed, "look, if you're here to yell at me for not fighting back, just get it over with. I know what I did and I have my reason-"

_"You spoke English."_

He froze. That was not what he expected her to say. Not by a long shot. "What?"

 _"On Sendak's ship. You spoke English."_ She said with absolute certainty.

He swallowed thickly and tried to mask his emotions. He'd hoped she hadn't noticed. That the detail would be lost in the chaos and excitement of what was happening. It was just a little slip brought on by panic and pain. "I don't know what you're talking about."

_"Bullshit! I know you did! And I know for a fact you know English!"_

"I assure you-"

_"The translators aren't on in here!"_

His words died in his throat. Altean translators didn't translate if you already knew a language. It was just how they worked, or so he heard. She could easily be lying, trying to get him to slip up again. "Then how do you understand me?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear to show a device that looked vaguely altean. _"But if you need more solid proof I'm not lying..."_ She switched to another language. One he didn't know. One that wasn't being translated for him.

She had him.

His ears fell back and he turned away. Humans were more thorough than he thought. Though how she'd convinced anyone to turn off the translators was a mystery.

He could see her sit on the floor out of the corner of his eye. _"Why? Why do you know English? Who taught you?"_

"My father... He said it was a way for us to communicate without anyone being able to understand. That it was the language my mother spoke... The language that I first spoke." He refused to look at her. "Krolia, I'd rather you keep this between us."

She was quiet for a minute. _"Of course... Keith."_

His head whiped up to look at her so fast it hurt. His eyes were wide and his jaw dropped. He hadn't told her his name. He hadn't told _any_ of the humans his name. Just the name he used among galra. A name he didn't feel connected to. "H... How do you..."

She smiled sadly, tears in her eyes. _"You were so little when you left. I doubt you remember me... But it's really you, isn't it?"_ He blinked. She couldn't be...

 _"Mom...?"_ She couldn't be. He knew that, but too many things were lining up.

Krolia's smile widened a bit. _"I know you probably still have doubts, but... I don't really have a way to prove it to you."_ She paused to think. _"How is Relas? Your father."_

All of the doubt melted away. His father's name was unique among galra, and there was no way she could have guessed it. "He's on a mission. I haven't heard from him in two deca-phobes." She nodded. "You're... You're really my mother?"

 _"Well, we can't be 100% sure without a DNA test, but... I doubt many Galra have spent enough time on Earth to get a human to fall in love with them and have a kid, but..."_ Her voice trailed. She had a good point, he supposed. Most probably wouldn't have given a human the time of day until that one beat their champion. _"Wild isn't it? You turning out to be a paladin of Voltron, me being brought to space by one... I guess it's the universe's way of trying to make things right. To make up for taking you from me..."_

 _"Why didn't you leave with us?"_ He asked. The question had been burning at the back of his mind for years, waiting to be asked. But asking it hurt more than it should have.

Krolia looked at the floor sadly. She wasn't smiling anymore. _"I really wanted to, but your father said it wasn't safe. Plus, someone had to watch over the blue lion."_

It made sense, and her body language was telling Keith everything she couldn't put into words. That too must have been an entirely human quality he shared. He tried to keep it under control, but it was hard. It lead to everyone calling him a kit even well out of kit-hood.

He looked over the barrier to his cell. How much did it hurt his mother that he'd let himself be taken prisoner?

* * *

"You said you wanted to speak to me?" Allura asked as Shiro entered the bridge. She was looking over the star map, trying to see just how much of the universe the Empire had taken over.

"You need to let him go." He said sternly.

She turned and furrowed her brow. "Pardon?"

"You heard what I said." He crossed his arms. "It's wrong. I get being upset that he's a member of the race that committed the mass genocide of your people and took over the rest of the universe, but he's still a paladin. And he went willingly into that cell. He's not like the others."

"You of all people should know how cruel and manipulative his kind are."

He did. The memories were still quite fuzzy, but he could remember enough. "Still, you'd think he would have tried to talk his way out of it. He has done nothing to hurt any of us. He even saved Krolia's life.

"I know it probably sounds weird but... When we formed Voltron, I could feel how much he hates the Empire. He felt no guilt at tearing Sendak's ship apart."

Allura did not take that argument the way he meant it. "All the more reason to keep him locked up. He'd betray you in a heartbeat. A galra that isn't loyal is prone to treacherous behavior."

"Let alone he's only half galra. We have no way of knowing if his other half is a loyal species or not." Coran added. "But... Well, we could talk to him. See how he feels about everything."

Allura glared at Coran and the man turned back to his monitor. Shiro glared right back at her as her gaze returned to him. She stared back definitely.

"You're making a mistake." He said as he turned and walked out.


	7. Allura is trying her best. It's just not very good yet.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paladin training and learning more about the galra ally.  
> What could possibly go wrong?
> 
> Everything.  
> The answer is everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a short chapter. A bit of info on the galra here, Allura being smarter than last chapter.
> 
> We see how that worked out.

It was late, but Allura couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened.

She wasn't as sure how justified she was in imprisoning the galra. _His people slaughtered your entire planet,_ one part of her argued. _But he himself is innocent,_ argued another. The turmoil was keeping her up. She also couldn't stop thinking about how the others reacted to what happened.

The one that stood out the most was Yurak's own reaction. He didn't resist, even seeming resigned. If he'd reacted like the others, maybe she would feel better. But she just felt... _wrong._

The mice squeaked at her as she got up and headed out of her room. There was someone she needed to see. To speak with. She was going to see her father. He'd know what to do.

Stepping into the chamber, she was greeted with the sight of her favorite meadow. Her father stood waiting for her, a soft smile dancing on his lips. "Allura." He said as she approached him.

"Father..."

"What's wrong?" His brow furrowed.

"It's the red paladin..." She confessed, "I thought that one person would be it, but then... It turned out to be this galra and I- I just don't know that I can trust him. I mean, he's done nothing wrong, but his people destroyed our home, slaughtered innocent people, yet I can't help but feel I'm no better than Zarkon if I keep him imprisoned..." Her father gently tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Allura, I can't tell you to trust this galra as I have trusted others of his kind." He began, guiding her to sit. "Trust must be earned. Let his actions speak for him. As Zarkon and Marmora's did."

"Marmora?" Allura glanced at him confused. He conjured an image of a galra woman in the red paladin armor. "She came to us after Zarkon attacked, wanting to help in any way she could. I let her take the red lion and hide it away. She became a spy in their ranks, helping us at every turn.

"What became of her, I do not know. But without her we would have lost the war long ago." He looked wistfully at the horizon. "That was my choice. Now you must make your own. I know you will make the right one."

* * *

Keith sat up and blinked slowly. He wasn't sure what had woken him up, but he was awake and that was what mattered. The gentle hum of the cell's barrier was all he could hear. The lights were dimmed for the night cycle and his plate of oddly green nutrition paste had been replaced with pink paste. Not red like he was used to, but probably more attuned to his needs.

The fur on the back of his neck was standing on end and he felt a tingling in his chest. He'd felt it before, but it was also different from that time...

_"Foolish child! You dare enter my chamber without permission?!" His hands shook as he held the crate closer to his chest. "The druids asked this be sent directly to you, lady-"_

_"Set it down and be gone or I'll tear your throat out!"_

He shook off the memory and stood to grab the plate. It was better than starving, he decided as he sat to eat. The flavor left something to be desired, but it definitely has some kind of meat base.

He glanced at the floor just outside his cell at the spot where Krolia sat as they both realized she was his mother. He couldn't even describe all of the emotions it made him feel.

Krolia was practically a stranger, but she'd shed genuine tears over him being imprisoned. She knew his father's name, and his name for that matter. She even spoke in common after they got to talking about his father, though she was quite rusty. Still, it was nice to have a conversation where they both spoke languages they didn't get to use much. His English wasn't great, but she didn't make fun of him for it. Minus laughing occasionally when he got two words mixed up and the result was ridiculous. He did the same, so he hadn't even gotten mad about it.

Light footsteps were approaching the cell as though trying not to wake him. His ears swivled, trying to hear them better. It was definitely a guy from what he could hear. Probably the Altean. What was his name again? Kormak?

The man's hair was nearly impossible to miss. He and the princess had very distinct hair, in his opinion.

The man froze and stared at him, eyebrows reaching for his hairline. "Oh my. I've never actually seen a galra's eyes glowing like that..." He looked at the bundle of blankets in his arms. "Um... You looked cold so I thought I'd...uh..."

"Why would you care if I'm cold?" He asked. "I'm your prisoner. You didn't even have to swap the food out." Another bite of the goo made it's way into his mouth. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. The flavor left something to be desired where it was present, but it was mostly just plain.

"What? Why would I not care if you were cold? Sure, you're our prisoner for now, but you're still-"

He was cut off by approaching footsteps. The princess walked around him and up to the barrier. "Princess Allura-"

"Not now, Coran." She trained her eyes on Keith. If she were more intimidating, he might have given more of a reaction than a raised eyebrow. "Yurak... You're the paladin of the red lion and a traitor to your people." She started. "If I am to trust you, I have to understand your actions."

His brow furrowed. He was their prisoner, what did it matter if she trusted him.

"Please tell me why you turned on your people."

"Well, first of all, your highness, they aren't my people." Her eyes widened. "Just because they're galra too doesn't mean we're the same. The Empire has been ruining the universe since they destroyed Altea 10,000 deca-phobes ago. Not all of us agree with them. Second, I did what had to be done.

"If being a part of Voltron means I can play a bigger part in taking Zarkon down, I will. All the better if I'm not the black paladin like he was." He glared at his spoon. "The black lion will never be piloted by a galra again. Not if I can help it."

Allura seemed to consider his words carefully. "How about we make a deal?" She had his attention.

* * *

The alarms blared loudly as Allura shouted over the intercom that Zarkon was attacking the castle. Shiro paused mid push up and leapt to his feet. The training room wasn't too far to the bridge, but he still wanted to time himself as he ran out. Krolia joined him in the hall, one boot clenched between her teeth, jacket half on and hair an absolute mess. She must have just woken up.

"Really caught us with our pants down, huh?" She said as she hopped along, trying to get her boot on.

"That's one way of putting it. Bastards don't know when to quit do they?" Adam joined them. He was more put together than Krolia was. Krolia huffed out a laugh as they reached the doors. "Well at least you two don't have to worry about not wearing-"

They all paused when they saw the princess. Or, more accurately, the galra standing near her. He was in full paladin armor, helmet tucked under his arm. He nodded to them and Krolia smiled.

Shiro smiled to Allura. She pretended not to notice. He was proud of her.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Adam started scolding Yurak. His ears dropped and his eyebrows disappeared into his hair. "You still have stitches in your leg, and I'm pretty sure that dagger scraped bone. You shouldn't push yourself while recovering. Your hand was in pretty bad shape last I checked. Also, what idiot grabs a sword by the blade? Or even reaches for a person's sword when trying to keep them from falling into the vacuum of space? Not the smartest move on your part."

Yurak opened his mout to speak at some point but he seemed to give up. Adam stopped when Pidge stumbled onto the bridge followed closely by Hunk. The two stopped to stare at Yurak before going to Shiro's side.

"So Allura let you out?" Hunk smiled. "Does that mean you get to be part of Voltron? We don't have to worry about you being kept prisoner and the guilt can stop eating at me?"

_"What?"_

"Nothing."

Allura turned off the alarms. She turned to the group looking upset. "All of you are late. Shiro is the only one in uniform and Lance isn't even here. You do realize we could have died by now?"

Lance finally wandered in and looked surprised at the group.

"As for Yurak... He and I have come to an... Agreement." He nodded to her. "He has agreed that his daggers will be held onto by a volunteer until he has proven himself a trustworthy teammate, and he is not to wander the castle unattended. In exchange he will be allowed his own room and a say in all of our plans with Voltron."

"I'll hold onto his knives." Krolia volunteered. Allura passed his belt over to her and turned to Lance. "Since you were the last to come to the bridge, in your pajamas no less, you will be escorting Yurak around the castle."

"Oh what? That's so unfair. Just because I was a little slow to join the group I have to be put on babysitting duty?"

Yurak frowned, growling softly. _"I don't like this any more than you do. At least... Uh..."_ He paused, staring at Hunk. "Could _you guys wear nametags or something until I can remember your names?"_

"Yurak, just stick with the blue paladin." Allura huffed.

Yurak's eyes widened and he glanced nervously between the group and the princess. Coran finally decided to step in. "Ah, princess? As I recall, galra tend to have a bit of trouble with...ah... Any color besides red and green."

"Well he's only half galra so it shouldn't be that much of a problem." She initially dismissed him. "Shouldn't it?" She turned back to Yurak. Slowly she lifted her hand and pointed at Lance. "Lance is the blue paladin."

"Oh. Uh... Okay." He slowly moved over to the group, standing between Lance and Shiro. Personally, Shiro thought it was interesting to learn that galra were colorblind. Adam could probably tell him what type later.

"Now. All of you, get dressed and head to your lions. Krolia and Adam, I want you to help Coran with diagnostics and repairs."

"Oh joy." Krolia deadpanned. Adam seemed to agree while Coran hooked his arm around hers. "Joy indeed! I'll show you what you need to do."

He was all smiles as he dragged Krolia over to a console. She looked pleadingly over her shoulder at Shiro. He smiled back and shrugged. She looked so betrayed as he started heading to his lion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter makes sense. A majority of it was written when I got slammed in the face with insomnia. 
> 
> Here's to Allura seeing the error in her ways and working to fix things!  
> In all honesty, I can understand why she'd be hesitant to trust Keith. He's a member of the race that slaughtered her people and took almost everything from her. There's no reason she should outright trust him. What she doesn't seem to realize is that she's not the only one who lost things in the war and that will be addressed in the story eventually.
> 
> For now, let's focus on getting the paladins to bond.  
> See you next chapter of whatever I write


	8. Yeah, bonding isn't as easy as you'd think.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team bonding! It's... Well, maybe it would go better if they had a chance to get to know each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What am I doing? I don't know.
> 
> I have ideas so far ahead in the story that I'd need to skip entire seasons to get to them.

_"Yeah, I'm not doing that."_

"What's the matter, Yurak? Embarrassed?" Lance teased. Honestly, he could understand his reluctance to join the team in... A stack of the lions in order. So far Blue was standing at Green's side with Black on top.

 _"No, this is stupid and obviously not going to work. First of all, the yellow lion is a leg, why isn't he on the bottom with...ah..."_ Yurak trailed off. Coran had mentioned he likely had trouble with color, but they didn't know it was that bad.

"Blue. The blue lion is on the bottom. You know, my lion?" Lance quirked his brow.

_"Right. Um... That's the bigger one, right?"_

"Is it really that hard to tell-"

 _"They're both the same color okay?! It's bad enough I have to call the pink one yellow!"_ Yurak shouted over the coms. They were all quiet for a long moment. 

"My lion looks pink to you?"

 _"You know what! Fine! I'll get in the quiznaking stack!"_ the red lion moved to the stack, landing on top of Blue. Green moved so Yellow could take the correct place. Hunk was, no doubt, pouting as he flew over and took his place. Shiro then took his place at the top of the stack.

"Yeah, I don't think this is gonna work. Let's try flying in formation. That seemed to work last time."

"No it didn't." Lance said at the same time as Yurak. Shiro must not have liked that because he was silent for a long moment before telling them to do it anyway. Really, it was a sad attempt at forming Voltron. Allura didn't help by having the castle defenses attack them.

Eventually Yurak got annoyed and flew off, which sucked since he had the fastest lion. Shiro let him go though. It wasn't worth it to chase him down. He was back after a few minutes anyway. Lance found it incredibly annoying that the guy could take off and come back without Shiro so much as batting an eye. What if he hadn't come back?

 _Red wouldn't allow that,_ Blue consoled him, _she has missed us dearly._ Somehow that didn't make him feel any better.

* * *

The day was not going well. Pidge had a freak out during the mind meld, he and Yurak crashed during the blind flight and the invisible maze was a disaster.

At the moment they were all sitting down together in the lounge. Shiro was deep in thought, Pidge was fiddling with their laptop, Hunk was testing local vegetation to see what was edible and Lance was glaring at their galra ally.

He just knew he messed up the invisible maze on purpose, and it was weird that the guy went through it with minimal instructions. It was annoying that the guy was showing off at every turn.

There was a chiming sound and they all started looking around. "What-"

 _"Oh. Sorry. Incoming transmission."_ Yurak slipped a communicator out of his belt. A screen popped up with the image of another galra in the same uniform he was in when they met him. The two started a conversation in their native tongue. 

Shiro was frowning at the two as they spoke. The conversation ended and he stepped over to him. "One of your family members?"

_"Sort of. Regris. He's been my best friend my whole life. He just wanted to check in with me, since I was supposed to come home but... I can't do that."_

"Why not? It's not like you're on the other side of the universe from your home." Lance spat. He didn't mean to be bitter, but this guy was free to go home whenever but Lance wasn't. It wasn't fair.

Yurak's ears drooped. _"I'm the red paladin. Without me you can't form Voltron. Without Voltron, the universe remains under the empire's control and we won't be able to restore any of what was_ lost." He stared at his hands. _"They destroyed Altea. Daibazaal is uninhabitable and quintessence manipulation has been twisted and corrupted by the witch Haggar. I can't go back yet."_ There was more to what he had to say, but he didn't add it.

Lance kinda felt bad. Here he was whining about not being able to go home and this guy had spent his entire life in this war. Hunk patted his shoulder.

 _"Look, I get it. This isn't your fight, you want to go home and live a peaceful life for as long as you can,"_ Yurak sighed. He didn't know that it kind of was Lance's fight. His grandfather had fought in the war and would still be fighting if Blue hadn't decided she needed a different paladin.

There was obviously more he wanted to say, but they were interrupted by Coran calling them to the dinning hall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it again. But you know what? I'll just let the chapter end there.
> 
> No need to write out the food fight.


	9. Keith still doesn't understand humans and alteans are just as confusing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations to leave the planet begin and Keith finds himself getting passed around from person to person. Honestly? Hecs getting annoyed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you make up galran words because you feel like you need it.
> 
> Mostly trying to establish relationships for Keith rn because he needs them.  
> Also he finally updated the language librarby so no more italics for English/Common.

Keith couldn't sleep. When he was in the cell, he'd at least been able to get a bit of sleep. Probably because it was about what he expect. This room they'd put him in though... It wasn't as easy to sleep. He wasn't locked in, he could go if he wanted to, but that wouldn't help his situation. Allura needed to trust him and he needed to earn that.

But there was something that called him to the bridge. To see the star map.

He sighed and hopped out of bed, pausing to look at the clothes the other paladins had given him. Baggy pants with a stretchy waistband, a large hooded shirt made of thick material with a pocket on the front and what Krolia called arm warmers. All of them were dark colored and certainly comfortable. In fact, they were warm and he almost never wanted to change. If only his feet weren't exposed...

He walked out of his room and glanced around. If there was a paladin awake, he'd have to ask them to walk with him. Luck was on his side, Shiro just stepped out of his room when he glanced his way. _"Uh..."_ The black paladin paused. _"Hey... Couldn't sleep?"_

"No I... It's too quiet and..." How could he explain it? "Do you think Allura would mind if I went to see the star maps?"

Shiro hesitated. Then he nodded. _"Come on. We'll say I wanted to look and didn't want to bother Coran if she asks."_ Keith gave a slight smile. Shiro was definitely one of the nicer ones. But as he passed him he smelled...

"Nightmares?" Shiro paused.

 _"Yeah... I guess getting taken prisoner by aliens and put in an arena where you fight to the death can be a bit traumatic."_ He deadpanned. Keith's ears folded back and he looked to the floor, crossing his arms over his chest. _"Sorry, I just- it's a coping mechanism."_

Shiro rubbed the back of his neck. The word "awkward" came to mind and they both started walking.

The bridge was dark as Keith walked over to the console. The altean interface was very user friendly, so it didn't take long for the soft green light of the star map to fill the room. Shiro gasped softly and took it all in. Honestly, he understood. The sight itself was beautiful, but there was something he wanted to look for. He swept his hand to move the map and carefully scanned the stars.

_"We're a long way from home, aren't we?"_

"Pardon?"

 _"Earth... I don't see it here. Or... Whatever your home planet is..."_ Shiro sat down on the raised platform under the balmeran crystal. Keith watched him for a moment, seeing him pat the spot next to him. He hesitated for a moment before sitting and looking up at the star map. It rotated slowly overhead, waiting for input.

They were quiet for a long moment. _"I guess you're more used to all of this. Traveling through the universe with people you don't know for possibly months... No way of knowing if you'll ever get home..."_

"You would think." Shiro looked at him. "This was only my second mission. Get on Sendak's ship, find a way to remove the red lion." He explained, "I mean, I succeeded, but..."

 _"You must be just as homesick as we are."_ Shiro muttered, more to himself really. The galra had a word for that. Zarel-dis. Though it was more complicated than homesick, he supposed. The word only came to be several deca-phobes after the war began.

"Not really." He couldn't say he was homesick. "I've never really had a place to call home. Maybe the base? But that was just where I grew up... I've been more concerned with where I need to be but... I'm not sure where that is anymore..."

Shiro was easy to talk to. He had a calming aura and didn't try to interrupt. Ordinarily, Keith would have tried to keep it all to himself like a good galra. It was expected of him.

He felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder. He gasped softly as he realized he'd pinned his ears back and clenched his jaw. Turning his head, his eyes met Shiro's. _"Hey. You're exactly where you need to be right now."_ The man smiled softly at him.

Surprisingly, he smiled back. 

His ears pinned back again as he turned to look at the door. Allura stepped inside as Shiro turned to look. She paused and glanced between them. "Yurak? You should be in your room right now." She narrowed her eyes.

 _"He's with me. I was hoping the star maps would... Help me calm down after..."_ Shiro's voice trailed. He wasn't ready to talk about it.

Allura seemed to understand though. She nodded and moved to stand behind them as they jumped to their feet. She had the computer bring up an image of Earth. It was beautiful, like Altea was.

 _"Thank you, Allura. I... I'll be on the training deck."_ Shiro said before fleeing. Allura watched him go before turning to Keith. She glared at him.

He glanced at the image of the planet for a moment. "It looks a bit like Altea did."

"Yes."

He bit his lip lightly. "I'm sorry. For what happened. I... I can't imagine how it must feel to be forced to leave your home, then wake up what only seems like days later to find that it's..." Her expression sofened. "What was it like? Altea. I've only ever read about it in half recovered records and..."

She spent the next varga telling him about Altea.

* * *

Lance was confusing. He seemed happy to do all the hard work when Allura was around, but the moment she was gone he dropped it all on him. Keith knew he could do the work too.

There was also the way he would constantly force one of the others to chaperone him. Neither one had liked the arrangement, but he could have at least tried to stick with it. Instead Keith ended up left with Pidge multiple times to do the heavy lifting, or Hunk to scavenge for food. (Actually, not a bad thing. He kept the paladin from grabbing a poisonous root vegetable.) Or even Shiro in the training deck.

None of it was bad, per se, he liked spending time with Pidge. They reminded him so much of Regris, and they let him update the language database. And Hunk was quite friendly after he got over his nervousness. Keith even let him stroke his ears. He was surprisingly good at it. And training with Shiro was fun, so long as Shiro didn't have a panic attack. Whenever that happened Keith had to grt Krolia or Adam. 

This time Lance wouldn't be dumping him on somebody else.

He stood in the way of the door as the paladin stared him down. "Look Mullet, I just want to drop these off with Coran and see if he needs the extra man power."

"You mean you want to put him on 'babysitting duty' as you called it." Keith crossed his arms.

"So what if I do?! It's so boring having to walk you around the castle! I could be doing mor important stuff, like bonding with Blue, or training. But no, I have to keep you in my sight and I can't train with you because you're a fight-obsessed weirdo that's already on level 15!" Lance huffed setting the box of parts aside. "Also, having you around is no bueno when it comes to the ladies. Not only are you a giant purple cat-"

"What's a ca-"

"-but you also have that awful mullet!"

"I don't know what that even is!" Keith thew up his hands. This paladin was particularly infuriating. _~~The cute ones always were.~~_ He huffe back, "your hair. Seriously, you let it get too much longer, people are gonna think you're a chick and that's just not a good look with a face like yours."

"What's your problem with me?"

"Oh like you don't know Mr better-than-everyone-else." He was making no sense. Keith was getting frustrated.

He felt a pull in his arm and he clenched his fist around it. His bayard appeared in his hands and took the form of a knife. He used it to hack off some of the longest parts of his hair. Lance's jaw dropped and his eyes followed the locks that hit the ground. "There! Are you happy now?! I'm going to help Adam in the med bay!"

He marched off, letting the bayard deactivate before waking into the medical bay and flopping on the floor with a huff. Adam paused in his work to look at him. "Your hair is-"

"What did I ever do to Lance? Seriously! The guy acts like I stole his lucky knife or something!" He sat up and waved his arms for empasis. "He called me a big purple cat-"

"Well-"

"-which I have no idea what that means! Then he says I have an awful mullet which is 'no bueno with the ladies' like I quiznaking care about that-"

"Wait-"

"-then he calls me Mr better-than-everyone-else!" He flopped back down and crossed his arms over his chest. "What does 'bueno' even mean?!"

Adam was quiet for a long moment. "That's why you cut your hair?"

"I don't know!" Adam walked over and sat on the floor near him. Keith huffed softly and reached up to touch his hair. _Maybe_ that had been a bit far.

Feeling eyes on him, he glanced at Adam. "So you don't care if women find you attractive?" There was a slight smile on his lips, like he knew something.

"No...?" He quirked his brow, "why would I care what women think about me?"

Adam rested his chin on his palm. "And men?"

Keith's cheeks were wam as he glanced away. Reasonably, he shouldn't be embarrassed that he liked men. It was just how he felt. Still, he found it hard to say aloud.

Adam started laughing. "The ammount of gays on this ship. I wonder what the ratio is. I guess Krolia really throws a wrench into things, being bi." He paused. "Awful quiet now, aren't you Yurak?"

"Gays?"

Adam blinked and adjusted his glasses. "Right. It's a person attracted to someone of the same gender. And bi is attraction to two or more genders."

 _Humans have words for that?_ "Huh... We don't really have words like those."

"You don't?"

"Well, it's not something that matters. The only people affected by who you're attracted to are you and whoever you involve." Adam was quiet. "Do you humans make a big deal about that stuff?"

Adam stared at his hands. "Some do. It used to be... People used to really suck and hurt people over this stuff." Keith sat up. "Even after things got better, Takashi and I-" he cut himself off. He looked so pained.

"Gay... Huh. Might be easier to say than the awkward explanation to women trying to flirt with me." He watched Adam take a shaky breath out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe we should have a word like that out here. Kinda feels nice to have a word for it."

"Yeah... It does..."

* * *

"Yurak, I wanted to-... Why is your food goo orange?" Keith paused mid bite. _Orange?_ He stared at the pink paste on his plate for a moment.

"What do you want, Lance?" He asked. Lance visibly flinched as he met his eyes. He raised a brow and tilted his head.

Lance tugged at his sleeve and Keith thought about something Adam had (eventually) told him. _"Lance is insecure. He hides it pretty well but... You're a better pilot than him. It's one of the few things he has, and he feels threatened. That's what I'm picking up at least."_ Keith could really see it now. "I wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to upset you and make you cut your hair."

He shrugged. "It's easy to upset me. I need to work on that. Besides, I needed a haircut anyway."

"You still have a mullet."

"I happen to like it." Lance raised his hands in surrender.

"Sure sure. Still isn't gonna help you with the ladies, man." Keith rolled his eyes. "But I want to make it up to you. So I wanted to know how... -ahem- How galra bond with each other."

"Well, you could bathe with me. Help me with grooming."

"Oh, yeah that sounds- WAIT WHAT?!"

His ears flicked back. "What?"

"Bathe?! You guys bathe together?!"

Everyone in the room was looking at them. Coran and Allura glanced at each other in confusion. "Yeah, we bathe together. It's actually concerning if we _don't_ bathe with others. Even if it's just a sand bath."

"Sand bath?! Hold on, I need more info."

"Galra are a social species. They rely on community a lot." Coran explained, "bathing together is pretty normal for them, and it was quite common for Alteans, though we were seperated by gender."

Lance's eyes were bugging out of his head. Hunk and Pidge looked similarly uncomfortable. "Sorry to say, but no matter how comfortable I am with my body, I'd rather not have everyone see me naked."

"You think you like your privacy? I think I'd die if I had to do that. And I wouldn't trust Lance to bathe with women."

"Hey!" Lance was pouting, "I am a perfect gentleman! And no one would be able to focus if I bathed with them."

"There it is." Pidge and Adam rolled their eyes.

"What about you guys?"

"Open baths were a thing in Japan." Krolia said with a shrug. Shiro nodded. Keith didn't know what "Japan" was, but so far it didn't sound too bad.

"Who cares if everyone's naked? Honestly it just means you can ask someone else to get your back for you." Adam shrugged.

Allura hopped to her feet. "Alright then. If anyone wants to join us in the bath, then come with us. It would be a good chance to strengthen your bonds as paladins, and Yurak will be able to get the grooming he needs." She smiled. "Now who is with us?"

Shiro and Krolia jumped at the opportunity while Adam turned it down. "I want to check on the refugees. I'll go next time."

Hunk hesitantly joined the group. "Maybe it won't be so bad? I mean, I'll try not to look at anyone but since it is a good chance to do some bonding as a team then I don't see why not but maybe just this once? I mean, unless I like it? But I doubt I'd like it that much since I'm giving up my privacy..."

In the end, the group was Allura, Coran, Hunk, Keith, Krolia and Shiro. Not a bad group in his opinion. And when they came out, he was soft, fluffy and ready to actually get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels a bit weird to me but.... Eh. I don't hate it. Which is weird since I don't usually like chapters that come out weird. Is that weird?  
> I've said weird entirely too many times now. It has lost all meaning. I ascend to a higher plane.
> 
> [More stuff I made for this.](http://fav.me/ddspkpz)  
> I have a thing for character design. It's pretty obvious sometimes.
> 
> Also, how many of you picked up that Krolia is bi af? Because I don't think I've mentioned that.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't be afraid to ask me questions. I actually might have answers for you.
> 
> Or help me write because I, quite frankly, have no idea what I'm doing at any given point in time.


End file.
